http://www.edf.org/blog/
enWhy solar panels are becoming a middle-class commodityhttp://www.edf.org/blog/2015/03/04/why-solar-panels-are-becoming-middle-class-commodity
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p><em>This was adaptated from a <a href="http://blogs.edf.org/energyexchange/2015/02/23/lets-talk-about-solar-power-and-equity/">blog post</a> first published on EDF's Energy Exchange blog.</em></p>
<p>The price of solar panels has fallen by 80 percent&nbsp;since 2008, contributing to a surge in solar home systems in the United States.</p>
<p>Incentives such as net metering&nbsp;and solar&nbsp;“leasing” programs&nbsp;have also broadened the market.&nbsp;Today, middle-income and working-class homes are driving investments in roof-top solar systems in key states, and this trend shows no signs of slowing down.</p>
<p>After <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/report/2014/05/29/90551/rooftop-solar-adoption-in-emerging-residential-markets/">analyzing installations</a> in Arizona, California, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts and New York, the Center for American Progress found that in all states except Maryland, roof-top solar panels overwhelmingly landed in neighborhoods with a median household income of $40,000 to $90,000.</p>
<p>The benefits of these panels have multiplied.</p>
<p><strong>New jobs for a diverse group of working Americans</strong></p>
<p>We now boast an estimated 20 gigawatts of solar energy nationwide, enough to power more than four million homes, and the United States added more solar capacity in the past two years than in the previous 30 years combined.</p>
<p>In fact, as President Obama <a href="http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2015/01/obamas-state-of-the-union-speech-highlights-us-renewable-achievements-climate-change-goals">highlighted</a>&nbsp;in his State of the Union address last month, “every three weeks, we bring online as much solar power as we did in all of 2008.”</p>
<p>This is not all about electricity.&nbsp;The growth of the solar industry is also creating good jobs, and plenty of them.</p>
<p>The &nbsp;industry added jobs nearly <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/01/15/3611522/solar-jobs-report-2014/">20 times faster</a> than the national average in 2014, and solar employment has grown 86 percent in the past five years. Solar installers make an average of $20 to $24 per hour, and solar salespeople can make up to $60 per hour.</p>
<p>This emerging industry is inclusive. As I have&nbsp;<a href="http://www.edf.org/blog/2014/08/26/big-data-highlights-huge-opportunity-solar-energy-la">written before</a>, solar and other clean energy jobs are generally more accessible to people of color and folks without advanced degrees.</p>
<p><strong>A cleaner environment for people who need it most</strong></p>
<p>Not to be overlooked are the <a href="http://www.edf.org/energy/energy-surprising-facts-and-what-they-mean">environmental benefits</a> of solar: The deployment of this clean energy resource helped avoid an estimated 20 million metric tons of harmful carbon dioxide emissions in 2014, the equivalent of taking 4 million cars off U.S. highways.</p>
<p>The fact that solar averts dirty, fossil fuel pollution has a critical equity aspect as approximately 68 percent of African-Americans and a similar percentage of Latinos live within 30 miles of a coal-fired power plant.</p>
<p>A recent study found that <a href="http://www.psmag.com/nature-and-technology/pollutions-racism-blind-wealth-79290">nearly 40 percent</a> of communities of color breathe polluted air.</p>
<p><strong>Solar can reach many more homes</strong></p>
<p>While all of this news is encouraging, there is still much more unrealized potential for local solar access and affordability for low-income people, renters and communities of color – constituencies that usually overlap.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Seizing this opportunity is a priority for many lawmakers and advocates – including Environmental Defense Fund – who are working to find solutions.</p>
<p>A community solar pilot project in Los Angeles, for example, will empower residents to own a share of a local solar garden without installing panels on their own roofs. This has the potential to reach 51 percent of the population in the city who rent, and large swaths of residents who can’t afford their own solar system.</p>
<p>These and other policies can create access and affordability for people who otherwise could not join the <a href="http://www.edf.org/climate/cleanenergy">clean energy revolution</a> – and we need to get policies right on net metering and other incentives that help every American benefit.</p></div></div></div><div class="field-collection-container clearfix"><div class="field field-name-field-blog-primary-image-fields field-type-field-collection field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"><div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-blog-primary-image-fields clearfix" about="/field-collection/field-blog-primary-image-fields/4507" typeof="">
<div class="content">
<div class="field field-name-field-blog-primary-image field-type-image field-label-above"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://static.edf.org/cdn/farfuture/cTT2CGAR11rsLC78xwsOZjYBrvFyM8xxcRAbJvaN3dI/mtime:1425407620/sites/default/files/rooftopsolar_378x235_2.jpg" width="378" height="235" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-credit field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href=&quot; http://bit.ly/1Nd9IYn&quot;>Greens MPs</a></div></div></div> </div>
</div>
</div></div></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-blog-category-for-navigati field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Blog Category for Navigation:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blog-categories-left-nav/energy" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Energy</a></div></div></div>Wed, 04 Mar 2015 16:16:52 +0000krives12356 at http://www.edf.orgBig Data highlights huge opportunity for solar energy in L.A.http://www.edf.org/blog/2014/08/26/big-data-highlights-huge-opportunity-solar-energy-la
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p><span style="line-height: 1.538em;">Using groundbreaking climate data, our recently updated and
expanded&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.edf.org/los-angeles-solar-and-efficiency-report" style="line-height: 1.538em;">Los Angeles Solar &amp;
Efficiency Report</a><span style="line-height: 1.538em;">, or LASER, has been tapping sophisticated GIS mapping software to
show what’s happening on the ground in my city – one neighborhood at a time.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.538em;">Not only will Los Angeles become a lot hotter in coming decades, we’ve
found, but some of the neighborhoods that are most vulnerable to heat extremes
(in addition to other forms of pollution) also have the best potential for
clean energy jobs.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.538em;">How do we know? Because starting in 2013, the Environmental Defense Fund partnered
with a team of researchers at the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation who crunched
environmental, health and census data from the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, the U.S. Census Bureau, the state of California and a number of other scientific
sources.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.538em;">Our goal: To help community leaders and policymakers visualize
climate change at the local level, and to help steer new funding from
California’s successful cap-and-trade program and other sources to the neighborhoods that need it
most.</span></p>
<h4>Los Angeles is heating up
</h4>
<p>The new series of <a href="http://164.67.121.27/files/Downloads/luskincenter/EDF/LASER_Atlas.pdf">detailed maps we just
launched</a>&nbsp;[PDF] have information down to the census track, rather than zip code, to give us an even clearer and
more accurate picture of what’s going on. </p>
<p>With climate
change taking hold, Southern California will get much warmer summers and falls
and be more susceptible to heat waves. Temperatures in the Los Angeles region will
climb 4 to 5 degrees Fahrenheit by 2050, our maps show.</p>
<p>Some neighborhoods will get hotter than others.</p>
<p>By mid-century,
Los Angeles’ urban core and downtown will experience three times more extreme
heat days (above 95 degrees Fahrenheit) than it does today.&nbsp;<span style="line-height: 1.538em;">The valleys and areas of high elevation will experience four times</span><em style="line-height: 1.538em;">&nbsp;</em><span style="line-height: 1.538em;">as
many.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.538em;">But where there’s sun there can also be power.</span></p>
<h4>Solar energy in the right place</h4>
<p>With nearly 300
sunny days per year and vast urban development, Los Angeles County is primed
for distributed energy generation.</p>
<p>The LASER maps show more than 19,000
megawatts of solar energy generation potential, of which only about 2 percent
has been tapped thus far.</p>
<p>If we reached just
10 percent of its solar potential, we could create nearly 48,000 job years and
reduce nearly 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide annually. That’s equivalent to
taking nearly 500,000 cars off the road each year.</p>
<p>California stands ready
to help.</p>
<p>The state has
committed to making significant investments of proceeds from its&nbsp;<a href="http://www.edf.org/blog/2014/01/15/four-reasons-california-cap-and-trade-had-extraordinary-first-year">cap-and-trade program</a>&nbsp;to reduce climate pollution
while at the same time benefitting some of our most vulnerable communities.</p>
<p>Already, $225
million – more than the legally mandated 25 percent of all proceeds – has been earmarked for
such projects.</p>
<p>This year alone, more than $50 million of that funding will be
invested in weatherization upgrades and renewable energy in our communities most
affected by environmental risk and air pollution, which are often low-income neighborhoods
and communities of color.</p>
<p>In fact, LASER
shows that some of the communities most vulnerable to air pollution and extreme
heat impacts – such as East Los Angeles, South Los Angeles, and the San
Fernando Valley – have some of the highest job creation potential through
rooftop solar installation and energy efficiency.</p>
<p>We know that these measures
will reduce climate and air pollution, help keep folks cool and comfortable
during extreme heat days, and also help keep energy bills affordable.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.538em;">These areas are
also home to some of America’s strongest supporters of environmental action.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.538em;">Latinos and African Americans consistently back </span><a href="http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/215564-report-latinos-want-environment-friendly-candidates" style="line-height: 1.538em;">environment-friendly
politicians</a><span style="line-height: 1.538em;">, and they’re&nbsp;much more&nbsp;</span><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/08/01/625111/poll-77-percent-of-latinos-understand-global-climate-change-is-already-happening/" style="line-height: 1.538em;">likely to believe that climate change is real</a><span style="line-height: 1.538em;">&nbsp;than other groups do&nbsp;– perhaps because many of them face
environmental challenges every day in their own neighborhoods.</span></p>
<p>Investments like these can make the promise
of a clean energy economy real to folks on the frontlines.</p>
<h4>Jobs and
economic opportunities</h4>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.538em;">Our atlas-style LASER
report, which was recently&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/07/29/fact-sheet-empowering-america-s-agricultural-sector-and-strengthening-fo" style="line-height: 1.538em;">highlighted by the White
House</a><span style="line-height: 1.538em;">, can be accessible to people who may not speak much English or
understand technical lingo.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.538em;">We hope the maps will help bring a diverse group of
stakeholders to the table to tackle difficult policy challenges.</span></p>
<p>In Los Angeles County, 3.7 million people – 38 percent of the city
– live in neighborhoods that take the brunt of California’s dirtiest power
plants, car exhaust and other pollution sources.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.538em;">Thanks to a smart data
screening tool for health risks, </span><a href="http://oehha.ca.gov/ej/ces2.html" style="line-height: 1.538em;">CalEnviroScreen 2.0</a><span style="line-height: 1.538em;">, we can show on the LASER map where they live.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.538em;">These often-dense neighborhoods also tend to make up the urban
heat islands that contribute to our ever-sweltering summer days.</span></p>
<p>By using Big Data
to connect the dots between pollution, dirty fossil fuel plants, clean energy
investment opportunities and climate vulnerability we want to begin a conversation
in which everyone – from the families in Los Angeles' inner-city neighborhoods to the policymakers in our state capitol – can participate.</p></div></div></div><div class="field-collection-container clearfix"><div class="field field-name-field-blog-primary-image-fields field-type-field-collection field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"><div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-blog-primary-image-fields clearfix" about="/field-collection/field-blog-primary-image-fields/4380" typeof="">
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<div class="field field-name-field-blog-primary-image field-type-image field-label-above"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://static.edf.org/cdn/farfuture/wHUsMLmeCjXCvHb1eFJZgZfsxkd8g3hS54dGQOZUB68/mtime:1408635203/sites/default/files/laser3_378x235.jpg" width="378" height="235" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-caption field-type-text-long field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Image caption:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Environmental health risk in by census tract, with red showing highest risk.</div></div></div> </div>
</div>
</div></div></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-blog-category-for-navigati field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Blog Category for Navigation:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blog-categories-left-nav/climate" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Climate</a></div></div></div>Tue, 26 Aug 2014 13:46:44 +0000krives11931 at http://www.edf.orgPublic art gets community talking sustainabilityhttp://www.edf.org/blog/2014/02/14/public-art-gets-community-talking-sustainability
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p><em>This post originally appeared on EDF's blog <a href="http://blogs.edf.org/californiadream/">California Dream 2.0</a>.</em></p>
<p>"Today is about making our community more beautiful,” exclaimed California State Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra (D-Pacoima), at a recent EDF-sponsored community art show and mural launch.</p>
<p>I know what you might be thinking. “Say what? EDF and art?”</p>
<p>This is one of the new routes we’re taking in our commitment to “finding the ways that work.”</p>
<p>We looked to accomplish two things with this project: to help spark imagination and civic pride by bringing local artists and youth together to create a vision for a more sustainable city, and to make a concerted effort to meet the community where they are on the environmental issues they care about. The results were both inspiring and enlightening.</p>
<p><img class="imgFlex caption" src="http://static.edf.org/cdn/farfuture/UAguKDU2IQVrTbzPNw-CO71wY_99eQuj_UMyLJgMbZM/mtime:1392399896/sites/default/files/fresno-murals_0.jpg" border="0" width="387" height="387" /><br />Our first launch event, in Fresno, CA, featured local muralist <a href="http://vimeo.com/64689427">Mauro Carrera</a> and local nonprofit partner organizations Valley LEAP, Arte Americas, and Fresno Building Healthy Communities.</p>
<p>The vivid imagery of the Fresno mural was spectacular: an 8’ x 16’ mobile fresco honoring the agricultural heritage of California’s Central Valley and its hardworking migrant workers, while integrating and embracing a new vision of more clean energy, fresh water, bike access, clean air, and green space.</p>
<p>The mural will be rotated throughout the year around several local community organizations and used for future youth conferences and monthly art walks in downtown Fresno.</p>
<p>The next day we moved the party to Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley, partnering with Pacoima Beautiful and local artist <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kristy-Sandoval-Art/210207593972">Kristy Sandoval</a> for a 15’ x 30’ mural painted outside the city’s Community Center, which houses numerous non-profit youth organizations. This project featured a call to “keep Pacoima beautiful,” and a bold vision to capture some of the vast solar potential in sunny San Fernando Valley (a recent <a href="http://www.edf.org/LAcleanenergy">EDF study</a> found that capturing just 5% of the rooftop solar power in the area could create thousands of jobs and reduce carbon emissions by over 200,000 metric tons per year).</p>
<p>The mural will expand in the future along the Community Center’s outdoor wall to include images calling to mind water conservation and urban greening, and will occupy an anchor spot on the regular Pacoima mural walking tour.&nbsp;</p>
<h4>Why sustainability through art?</h4>
<p>EDF’s Keith Gaby nailed it last month with a <a href="http://www.edf.org/blog/2014/01/16/did-you-hear-one-about-serious-environmentalist">blog post</a> that set a refreshing tone for the environmental movement: "The reality is that environmentalists often have a difficult time reaching the people with whom we most need to build trust in order to accomplish our goals: Americans who don't feel a natural kinship with the traditional environmental movement. We need to accept that other people's priorities — economic or cultural — are valid and important.”</p>
<p>Effective environmental policy needs to recognize and prioritize the local and regional needs of communities; part of doing this means communicating policies and values that meet folks where they live, literally. Public art (such as murals) is a special way to facilitate a conversation that anyone can access, a conversation that comes <em>from</em> the community, <em>for</em> the community.</p>
<p>In the weeks and months leading up to the mural launches, EDF staff and partners participated in local workshops with community members to discuss climate change, clean energy, and resiliency. Our partners led the conversation and the artists took in feedback about the collective vision, incorporating it into each mural’s design. The end result was something enduring and beautiful, a bold vision for a sustainable future and a rousing call to action to help us get there.&nbsp;</p></div></div></div><div class="field-collection-container clearfix"><div class="field field-name-field-blog-primary-image-fields field-type-field-collection field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="field-collection-view clearfix view-mode-full field-collection-view-final"><div class="entity entity-field-collection-item field-collection-item-field-blog-primary-image-fields clearfix" about="/field-collection/field-blog-primary-image-fields/4247" typeof="">
<div class="content">
<div class="field field-name-field-blog-primary-image field-type-image field-label-above"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://static.edf.org/cdn/farfuture/rgPam7ISBJqkHzVB714byRC1HV9jGFgG56lyGH2QKCQ/mtime:1392399820/sites/default/files/sustainability.jpg" width="387" height="387" alt="" /></div></div></div> </div>
</div>
</div></div></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-blog-category-for-navigati field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Blog Category for Navigation:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blog-categories-left-nav/partnerships" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Partnerships</a></div></div></div>Fri, 14 Feb 2014 17:52:50 +0000akavyani11448 at http://www.edf.orgLASER: Turning the climate threat into a story of opportunity for Los Angeleshttp://www.edf.org/blog/2013/11/20/laser-turning-climate-threat-story-opportunity-los-angeles
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>I’m an L.A. guy, so I like to think about things in epic story
lines. And with today's launch of EDF and
UCLA’s Luskin Center for Innovation new <a href="http://www.edf.org/lacleanenergy">"LASER" maps</a> (Los Angeles Solar &amp; Efficiency
Report), I think we’ve got a real blockbuster on our hands.</p>
<p>The LASER story opens with a team of top scientists warning us of an imminent
threat – climate change – that will cause widespread disruption and human suffering
if left unmitigated. </p>
<p>Utilizing the groundbreaking work of Dr. Alex Hall and the UCLA
Institute for the Environment and Sustainability, the LASER maps illustrate
what climate change is going to look like in the Los Angeles region in just a
few decades.&nbsp; </p>
<p>By
mid-century, the region will experience a <em>tripling
</em>in the number of extreme heat days in the downtown and urban core, and a <em>quadrupling</em> in the number of extreme heat
days in the valleys and at high elevations.</p>
<p>The
plot thickens as we get a clearer sense of the communities that are most at
risk – those already dealing with bad air quality, lack of adequate green space
and tree canopy, poor access to public transit, and other challenges like high
unemployment levels, poverty and public health hazards.&nbsp; &nbsp;</p>
<p>This
is the part of the story where we could give up in the face of seemingly
impossible odds...but that’s not how we
roll in Los Angeles.&nbsp; </p>
<p>The
LASER maps also introduce a powerful narrative about how we can fight back by &nbsp;mitigating the carbon pollution driving
climate change, building community resiliency through investments in energy
efficiency and renewable energy, and seizing opportunities for economic growth that
reduce vulnerability.&nbsp; </p>
<p>Utilizing
sophisticated GIS mapping tools and other data, LASER shows the tremendous environmental
and economic potential for rooftop solar in Los Angeles County:</p>
<ul>
<li>Nearly 47,000 local jobs in solar panel
installation could be created if merely 10% of the rooftop
solar energy generating potential in LA County was realized.</li>
<li>If LA rooftops were able to capture
that 10% of solar capacity they would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 2.5 million tons, equivalent
to taking 500,000 cars off the road annually.</li>
</ul>
<p><img height="387" src="http://static.edf.org/cdn/farfuture/4HeWkkDtUnkrUmkhdC50SLi_GmJ5B4k8XJHojsFO9rQ/mtime:1406647787/sites/default/files/laclimate_jobs_0.jpg" width="387" class="imgFlex caption" /></p>
<p>Another LASER plot line involves energy efficiency, one of
the cheapest ways to reduce carbon pollution and lower utility bills at the
same time. The LASER maps show that:</p>
<ul>
<li>Nearly 1.5 million buildings in LA
County were built before energy efficiency codes went into effect, which means…</li>
<li>80% of all
buildings in LA County have elevated potential for cost-saving, energy
efficiency investments.</li>
</ul>
<p>If this were actually a Hollywood blockbuster, we would
probably cut to a final, climactic showdown and a dramatic rescue from
impending doom. But unlike Hollywood,
there is no pre-written ending to the climate crisis.&nbsp; </p>
<p>To mitigate the worst effects of climate change, and prepare
vulnerable communities for the climate impacts already on their way, we need
serious investment and deployment of clean energy and low-carbon infrastructure
– particularly in those communities that will be hit the hardest.</p>
<p>LASER provides tools that can help elected officials and advocates
pinpoint the communities that are most vulnerable to climate change, identify the region’s clean
energy investment potential, and then develop policies and funding mechanism to
unleash it. EDF is here to help in that
effort, and look forward to supporting our friends and allies in Los Angeles
who are working to make the clean energy potential profiled in LASER a real-life
success story.</p>
<p>In the end, LASER tells a tale of threat and opportunity in Los
Angeles. Now it’s time to get to work to
make sure this epic has a positive ending.</p>
<p><em>Editor's Note: The stats in this post have been updated to reflect&nbsp;the newest version of the <a href="http://164.67.121.27/files/Downloads/luskincenter/EDF/LA_County_Level_V2.pdf">Los Angeles
Solar &amp; Efficiency Report (LASER),</a> a
data-driven mapping tool that can help stakeholders and local leaders understand
climate and pollution risks in their own communities.&nbsp;</em></p>
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<div class="field field-name-field-blog-primary-image field-type-image field-label-above"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://static.edf.org/cdn/farfuture/SMaIBZ-Wt7rfqM6HH8EVVGlwCbUZBLG-c77Pby1Wr0w/mtime:1383236370/sites/default/files/laser.jpg" width="387" height="135" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-credit field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">EDF and UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs </div></div></div> </div>
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</div></div></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-blog-category-for-navigati field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Blog Category for Navigation:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blog-categories-left-nav/climate" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Climate</a></div></div></div>Wed, 13 Nov 2013 16:57:43 +0000dupham11156 at http://www.edf.orgIt's time for Latino leadership on climate changehttp://www.edf.org/blog/2013/07/02/it%E2%80%99s-time-latino-leadership-climate-change
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<p class="captionSrc"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/207542233">Thomas Hawk</a></p>
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<p>I love California in the summertime, and Fourth of July weekend is one of my favorite holidays. But it is getting excruciatingly HOT out here, and according to the best science, it is going to get much hotter.</p>
<p>This past weekend the West Coast broke nearly every <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-heat-wave-west-california-20130629,0,2624982.story">temperature record</a> on the books, well ahead of August and September, which are usually the hottest months of the year.</p>
<p>And last year was the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/news/ncdc-announces-warmest-year-record-contiguous-us" target="_blank">hottest year on record</a>&nbsp;for the continental United States. Crops were devastated, cities were hit by supercharged storms, and people, <a href="http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/report/2012/11/16/45135/heavy-weather-how-climate-destruction-harms-middle-and-lower-income-americans/">mostly the poor</a>, suffered and died amid some of the most destructive extreme weather events in our history. All told, the United States spent more than <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/17/us/weather-2012-cost">$110 Billion</a> on weather related disasters in 2012.</p>
<p>There’s more bad news ahead. Extreme heat <a href="http://www2.sunysuffolk.edu/mandias/global_warming/images/hot_seasons_us.gif">projections</a> for the U.S. in 2030, based on <a href="http://woods.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/files/DiffenbaughGRL.pdf">research</a> from Stanford University, shows that the West and Southwest are going to get really, really hot!&nbsp;</p>
<p>Those regions, incidentally, are going to have the <a href="http://equityblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/2040-Map.jpg">largest concentrations</a> of people of color in the country, and Latinos will be the fastest growing part of that demographic.&nbsp; It doesn’t take a scientist to see that two freight trains – Latino population growth and extreme weather driven by climate change- are heading directly towards each other.</p>
<p>So will the climate change story end in disaster?&nbsp; Or could this be an opportunity to adapt to and overcome a great challenge?&nbsp; Latino leadership will be key to answering this question.</p>
<p>National polling data tells us that Latino voters see that something is terribly wrong, and overwhelmingly support action to fix it. <a href="http://www.nrdc.org/media/2013/130219.asp">Seventy-four percent</a>&nbsp;of Latinos polled earlier this year&nbsp;believe climate change is a “serious problem”, almost 10 percent higher than the national average among all American adults.&nbsp; Another poll tells us that <a href="http://vocesverdes.org/latinos-remain-committed-to-reducing-air-pollution-and-preventing-climate-change/">86%</a> of Latinos strongly support President Obama taking action to reduce pollution that causes climate change.&nbsp;What’s more, gender, income, education, nativity and even party affiliation do not significantly move the needle on Latinos’ commitment to tackling climate change. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>Now for the exciting part: adapting to climate change will present one of the greatest opportunities to rebuild and enhance our infrastructure and economy, and to improve our public health. Why? Because adaptation will require major investments in clean energy and energy efficiency, as well as more green space and trees in our cities and more reliable (and low-carbon) transportation. We also need to stop burning the fossil fuels that are cooking our planet and polluting our air.</p>
<h4>Got Sun?&nbsp;</h4>
<p>For a start, why not begin capturing all that free solar energy with rooftop solar panels? &nbsp;This will reduce the strain on our electricity grid, and allow communities to stay cool without breaking the bank on the energy costs of air conditioning. Better still, building out solar will be good for the economy. In California, my home state, 92% of Latino voters want to increase the use of renewable energy and <a href="http://causecleanair.org/what-do-latino-voters-in-southern-california-think-about-rooftop-solar/">87%</a> agreed that “growing the state’s solar energy industry will create new jobs in California.”</p>
<p>I’ve written before that&nbsp;<a href="http://blogs.edf.org/californiadream/2012/09/14/the-clean-economy-is-an-opportunity-for-us-latinos/" target="_blank">the Clean Energy economy is an opportunity for Latinos</a>, creating new demand for goods and services, new businesses and new jobs. After all, somebody has to design and install all those solar panels, plant the trees, weatherize the homes and businesses, and operate and maintain our mass transit systems. That’s an easy argument to make to Latinos voters, 86% of whom <a href="http://www.sierraclub.org/ecocentro/survey/Full%20PowerPoint%20Presentation%20(English).pdf">said</a> that they would prefer the country to invest in clean, renewable energy sources rather than fossil fuels.</p>
<p>Last week I joined Latino leaders from Voces Verdes and the National Association of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO) to have a conversation about the need for better and cleaner infrastructure in a warming world. And President Obama made it clear <a href="http://www.edf.org/blog/2013/06/25/president-takes-lead-climate-change">last week</a> that his administration will double down on climate change, calling for all of us to “seize the future.”</p>
<p>As the polls show, the President has overwhelming support for his initiative from Latinos in this country. It’s time for Latino leaders to follow suit by being at the forefront of those calling for action on climate change.</p></div></div></div><div class="field-collection-container clearfix"><div class="field field-name-field-blog-primary-image-fields field-type-field-collection field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-blog-category-for-navigati field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Blog Category for Navigation:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blog-categories-left-nav/climate" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Climate</a></div></div></div>Tue, 02 Jul 2013 18:16:30 +0000devAdmin5220 at http://www.edf.org